The Steelers are supposed to win in Oakland this afternoon.
Yes, James Conner is out, but the Raiders are 2-10 and haven't done very much right this season.
This game and the season finale at home against Cincinnati are set up on a tee for the Steelers. In between two gimmes, they have New England at Heinz Field and play at New Orleans.
They need to go at least 2-2 in this final stretch, although 3-1 would be a lot better.
They can't afford to stumble today in Oakland.
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NBA star Stephen Curry recently got a letter from a nine-year-old girl who complained that Curry's signature sneakers were not available in girls' sizes.
She plays basketball and wants to wear the same shoes that Curry does. He sent back a handwritten note and let her know this oversight will soon be corrected.
Of course. What kind of country are we running if every kid doesn't have a chance to buy a pair of $130 sneakers that won't fit next year?
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At about 5-foot-6, Sam Nover was unlikely to be the biggest person in the room. So he settled for being the loudest.
He had a booming voice, and there was seemingly no volume control. It was always at 10.
Nover, who died last week at 77, spent more than 30 years with WPXI-TV (originally WIIC). He came from Detroit in the early '70s with a mandate to shake up the station's sleepy sports operation.
He definitely did. Bombastic and supremely self-confident, Nover excelled at shrinking the day's news to a smoothly-delivered four minutes. He was a presence on the air.
His personality came through in the commentaries, well-crafted and often hard-hitting. While Bill Currie was down the dial cracking stale jokes about his ex-wife, Nover was using his commentary time to accuse Johnny Majors of mistreating some Pitt football players.
Nover liked attention. When he had a scoop, he would alert the local wire service bureaus. Sometimes the exclusives missed. When Nover incorrectly reported the Steelers would trade Joe Gilliam to the Bears, he went on the air the next night and revealed the name of the Chicago sportscaster who provided the bad information.
There was bite to Nover's game. He and Myron Cope couldn't stand each other. When station management chopped off part of Nover's air time for disjointed commentary from a fading Bob Prince, Nover rebelled. One night he introduced Prince with, "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a man who remains convinced his skinny neckties will come back in style."
Nover proved it's possible for a physically small man to walk with swagger. He favored sunglasses and the white belt with matching loafers look when that was fashionable. He addressed male colleagues as "babe" without irony. Bill Cardille nicknamed him "Sammy Star."
He had brass. On the road with the Steelers, he would often call the busiest restaurant in town and convince them to reserve a Saturday evening table for "Dr. Nover" and his party.
Nover called Penguins games on TV, and did Steelers' pre-season games, too. He was a good enough play-by-play broadcaster to get work with NBC on NFL games. He was set for a big role in NBC's Olympic boxing coverage until the United States boycotted the 1980 Games.
Nover got a 30-minute sit down with Roberto Clemente just months before the Pirates star's death. It serves as Clemente's epitaph. Nover did good work, and he did it with his customary unabashed flair.
There's the story of the time he sold his car via a classified ad. He listed all the features of the car, all the reasons to buy this one and not any of the others listed.
The last item was quintessential Sam Nover. It read, "Celebrity driven."
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
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